


Starfall

by shieraseastar03



Series: ACOMAF [9]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Angst, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Hope vs. Despair, Hurt/Comfort, Starfall, The Night Court, The Summer Court (ACoTaR), Under the Mountain - Freeform, Velaris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 10:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19018129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shieraseastar03/pseuds/shieraseastar03





	1. Reflection

That night would be one of the biggest parties in the Night Court and everyone in the Inner Circle was excited about it. 

 

When the night was near, Nuala showed the Princess of Adriata her dress for that night. Shiera had never seen something so beautiful, it was a silver dress that brighted like the starlight, it had 2 suspenders that began in the edges of her cleavage and joined in her back, the silver masterpiece was snug in the upper area and very loose on the lower. 

 

Then Cerridwen helped with the hair, she put two small silver hair combs at both sides of her head, so they could hold the black waterfall of curls. 

 

Shiera stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked like a princess of stars, she wore the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen, it was silver like her hair combs and like the band around her finger. 

 

Shiera touched her ring, it was funny that a wedding ring from the Summer Court fitted so well with a Night’s Court outfit. Usually, touching the ring produced her sadness or confidence but in that moment… She was nervous. 

 

She had… Yes, she had fell in love with the High Lord of the Night Court, and that was a difficult to face. She hadn't be sure of what she was really feeling, because if she admitted it she'd feel like she was betraying Tarquin or she would feel that she couldn't be in love with someone who would never return her feelings. Rhys was nice, kind, funny and sincere to her but it was better not to make false fantasies although she was so in love with him that it was difficult to look and him and breathe at the same time.

 

The last time they had talked had been in the Court of Nightmares and she couldn't exactly tell what had happened there, they were playing their roles but there was much more than that.

 

On Rhys' lap he had felt… Free. She had been herself and she had felt… Yes, she had felt an infinite desire for Rhys, she needed to feel him again. 

 

She had just set free her impulses of wanting him but she didn't know what had been for him. 

 

He had been raped for over 50 years and she was sure that he wouldn't want anyone in his bed for a while. Every time that in the bars males and females went to court him, the High Lord refused them all with elegance. 


	2. The perfect night

The city glowed under the soft lanterns that had been dimmed to accommodate the coming attractions. Music hummed celestial in every corner.

 

It was every bit as spectacular as Rhys had remembered, and every bit as painful as he had expected it would be while he waited Under the Mountain. But it was worth it. Fifty years of hiding came flooding back into his mind and it was an effort not to buckle as the realization of what he had survived, what he had lost and what he had won, fell upon his shoulders.

 

This was Starfall and it would be magnificent although he hadn’t remember to be so nervous like he was tonight.

 

The city that housed every single one of his dreams gleamed at him with life and love and hope as he walked through it. But looking around, he could feel what he had lost dancing around me, begging him to reach out and grab them. 

 

“Maybe I really should have worn the other jacket” he thought, “It's not too late; she isn't here yet”. If he slips away now he can change into the other one, or perhaps he shouldn't wear a jacket? A simple black tunic might be better, except… that was what he wore in the Hewn City, last time he saw her. When everything went crazy. He still didn’t know what had happened there.

Alec appeared in the balcony of the House of Wind. “Hey” he greeted his father, “Are you ready for tonight?” his son asked him, Rhys kept quiet for a while and then was able to confess “Certainly not… This is my first Starfall in 50 years with you, without… your mother…” his voice went silent but Alec finished for him “Without Amarantha… And with Shiera”, Rhys nodded. 

 

“What happened in the Court of Nightmares?” the prince inquired and Rhys showed him. 

 

“You should… tell her or maybe just take another step. I think she's ready” his son advised him but Rhys seem disconcerted “What? How do you know?”, “She had shown before more or less her feelings for you but what happened in that throne… You both were acting but then as you stopped, maybe she did too. One thing is for sure, a female that have been through what she has wouldn't have done what she did. If she was like that with you there, she is more than sure” Alec spoke looking at his father. “Since when you are a love expert?” Rhys laughed, “I've been watching you both and it's pretty obvious” Alec laughed too. 

 

Being both at the balcony, staring at the night that was falling, they both remembered Alec's first Starfall, 63 years before. Alyx hadn't wanted her little prince to watch Starfall until he had grew a little, because she feared that their son could be hit by a shooting star when he was still too little, so when he was 3 years old, she finally allowed him to go with them. The young prince of Velaris had been in his father's arms as his mother wrapped her own around her husband's waist and kissed their son’s black hair. Rhys had explained to his son everything about the party and when the stars had started to fall, they had danced together as Alec had been really excited watching the colours flying over Velaris. 

 

* * *

 

She walked to where Cass, Az, Mor and Alec were waiting, Rhys and Amren where already in the House of Wind. 

 

When they saw her, their faces seemed dumbstruck. It was true that the dress wrapped and lifted her boobs but her other dresses did too.

 

“Where the hell did you get that dress? You are lucky that Amren has not seen you yet, because she would stole it” Mor told her and won a Shiera's grin. “And it seems that you have left our males stupid, they are with their mouths opened and without been able to talk” Mor added and Cassian said in their defense “We can talk but… Rhys should stop giving you that kind of dresses. It's impossible to focus...” and the others nodded while Shiera's face turned red. 

 

Alec offered himself for carrying her flying to the House of Wind and she accepted smiling sweetly. 

 

* * *

 

Rhysand spotted the Shadowsinger across the way, along with Cassian, Mor and Alec and just stared, unable to move forward and accept that any of it was real.

 

Then he saw her and his blood froze.

 

His mate was flying with his son and she was… She was even more stunning that he'd thought. Her hair, pulled back by two crystal pins, dripped down behind her in a black waterfall on her back that moved softly on the breeze. Diamonds and tiny crystalline jewels of faintest blue, a softer shade of his mother’s sapphire ring, adorned the dress that clung to her every curve. 

 

Curves.

 

She had them and in abundance. His mother's dress wrapped them perfectly and she looked like a star-touched queen. 

 

Shiera seemed nervous but happy and healthy, and when she turned her head enough for him to see her profile, his stomach dropped out completely at the sight of her, a fallen star ready and waiting for someone to catch her and break her fall. That now familiar rhythm of his soul conducted a melody in time to his heartbeat, one word for each beat that Rys never wanted to stop hearing.

 

The dress, woven of gems that sparkle and shine like starlight, makes it seem as if she herself is casting that light… His mate, a star, fallen from heaven. Every curve of her body, now filled out and healthy, is visible with how tightly the dress clings to her.

  
  


“My mate. My mate. My mate”. He couldn’t think in anything else, just the mating bond pulling him to get closer that beautiful and young princess.

 

Each step was a well of anxiety around his feet, but when he reached the threshold where Shiera and Mor stood chatting, every ounce of hesitation slipped away as he was momentarily trapped by the sight of her. From far away, Shiera was a fallen star glimmering on the edge of a cliff. But close up, she was as all consuming as the wildest galaxy.

 

And so Rhysand stepped out of the darkness, his darkness, to walk towards her. The brightest star in the night sky. 

His mate.

“I’ve had lovers” Mor was saying, “but… I get bored. And Cassian has had them, too, so don’t get that unrequited-love, moony-woo-woo look. He just wants what he can’t have, and it’s irritated him for centuries that I walked away and never looked back”.

 

Rhysand stepped forward, a tad surprised at the topic of conversation, and spoke before he had too much time to lose his nerve and turn around. “Oh, it drives him insane” he said. Shiera nearly jumped and Rhys caught a wicked knowing grin from Mor before he moved, circling the princess and drinking in the sight of her openly. The High Lord couldn’t help himself when his eyes had finished the length of her and he smirked. “You look like a princess again”

 

“You really know how to compliment females, cousin” Mor said. And just like that, she left, but not before resting her hand on his shoulder with a firmness in her touch that told him she was glad he could share that night with the greened-eyed Princess of Adriata.

 

And then just like that, he was alone with her. With Shiera. His Shiera. And all he could do was stare. But she was staring too. Or at least, she tried not to, but he could see her eyes trailing all over him, taking him in from the black jacket around his shoulders to the exposed skin at his neck where his tattoos swirled. Already he had become a mess inside, unglued at the mere sight of her.

 

Mother above, she was so beautiful. And she had no idea. About herself. About Starfall. Him or them or any of it. And he loved her for it, that gorgeous curiosity about the world she knew so little of that made her mind so sharp and inviting.

 

Rhysand stepped up behind her, daring himself closer and murmured in her ear with an amused snort, “Look up”. 

 

“No speech for your guests?” she asked, turning her attention to the skies at the same moment the entire city stilled. 

 

“Tonight’s not about me, though my presence is appreciated and noted”, he paused, pointing high above us to the Heavens just as the first star fell. “Tonight’s about that”.

 

Shiera gasped as souls began to weaving across the star-strewn sky. Lights collided in heavy blurs of color so rare and unseen in any other part of the world. Blues and impossibly stark whites took over until the sky was a canvas of sparkling divinity.

 

He felt Shiera lean against him and quickly pull herself back forward. That momentary lapse between them was enough to set off his craving for her all over again, a reminder that he had missed this very moment, not just with her but the entire city, for the last fifty years.

 

So he stepped away to give her space to take it all in, but the view that met me only twisted the knife in his gut further: Morrigan, Alec, Azriel, Cassian. All of them dancing, twisting around and into one another like the souls above them with vibrant smiles plastered across their faces. They were a wild and living thing, his family, just happy to be alive and in each other’s company.

 

Rhys had almost forgotten what it felt to be like that. The idea that he could have all of that spirit and will again tasted so foreign on his mind’s tongue. And tomorrow it could all be gone again, just like that. 

 

Shiera noticed and came to stand next to him with a heavy gaze in her eyes. Rhys swallowed and offered her his hand, needing to be away from here where it was just her, the only one who’d understand.

 

“Come” he said, glad when Shiera took his hand. “There’s a better view. Quieter”.

 

He led her to a balcony high up on the House of Wind where the entire city was shining before them in a sweeping view and the sky shone at its brightest to see. 

 

Shiera seated herself on the balcony with a jump and Rhys purred “If you fell, you know I’d bother to save you before you hit the ground”. “But not until I was close to death?” she asked with a wicked grin. “Maybe” he replied with a quiet laugh.

 

“Are they stars?” Shiera asked cutting Rhys’ dangerous thoughts off. He came to meet her at the railing of the balcony where she studied her Heavens, but he couldn’t be bothered to join her. His first Starfall in fifty years and all he wanted to watch was her.

 

“No. Our ancestors thought they were, but… they’re just spirits, on a yearly migration to somewhere. Why they pick this day to appear here, no one knows” Rhys explained then.

 

Shiera passed a quick glance over him that made his heart shudder. Her every look was fatal tonight, like his life depended upon them. “There must be hundreds of them” she whispered softly.

 

“Thousands” he corrected,“They’ll keep coming until dawn. Or, I hope they will. There were less and less of them the last time I witnessed Starfall”.

 

A weight snapped back in place over his soul. Fifty years. Fifty years. For other ones was a mere blip in the context of their entire life, but for him had been fifty years of torture, fifty years without seing his son… Fifty years without his wife. 

 

This was his Court, his home, and the fact that he didn’t recognize even a small, infinitesimal piece of it like the number of souls traversing the skies at Starfall, made him feel as though his soul was dying. Like he had failed as their High Lord.

 

“What’s happening to them?” Shiera asked while looking at the lights above her and Rhys rested his hands on the balcony, “I wish I knew. But they keep coming back despite it”.

 

“Why?”. Such a simple question with such a complicated answer, but Rhys gave her the only one he had. The one that had come to define him since the moment he drank the wine and felt my powers fade away in that wretched throne room.

 

“Why does anything cling to something?” he asked, “Maybe they love wherever they’re going so much that it’s worth it. Maybe they’ll keep coming back, until there’s only one star left. Maybe that one star will make the trip forever, out of the hope that someday, if it keeps coming back often enough, another star will find it again”.

 

And Rhysand would. He would go back a thousand times over to save this city even if he was the only one left to inhabit its gentle streets. If time froze and his powers were stripped away and my wings were torn, he would have fought Amarantha over and over again just for a chance at returning here and finding Shiera, his radiant, hopeful star that saved him in all the ways possibles.

 

“That’s… a very sad thought” Shiera commented quietly. “Indeed” he agreed, collapsing inwardly on himself. 

 

The rest of the Inner Circle was upstairs, still dancing together but Rhys didn’t look like he would join him soon. “Rhys, what happens? Why aren't you with them?” she asked softly and he looked at her bright eyes and then back to his city.

 

Rhysand rested his forearms against the railing of the balcony as she studied him, trying not to let his grief show through, but he couldn’t do it anymore. Rhys was tired of being miserable and alone, hiding himself from anyone and everyone. This was Starfall. It should be special even if it was painful and honest. And if anyone could understand the truth, it was Shiera.

 

“Starfall my favorite party, it represents everything that I love from my Court but… I've missed it for over 50 years. It's a known party even in Hewn City so… Amarantha knew what this party meant to me and when it arrived, I was wondering how Velaris' sky would look and how my family would be… but she made me serve her… the whole night. I got through it by reminding myself that my family was safe; that Velaris was safe. Nothing else mattered, so long as I had that. She could use my body however she wanted. I didn’t care. I love being here but I still remember the 50 previous ones, and I can't look them knowing what I did… They don’t know, none of them, what she did to me on Starfall. I don’t want it to ruin their night”.

 

Music disappeared. The sky went dark. The earth fell away at her feet.

 

Shiera’s heart ached but managed to stroke a hand softly over his shoulder “Rhys, I'm so, so sorry… I know that there's nothing I can do to make you forget… But I promise that this Starfall will be memorable. You are with your family and they love you. If you told them, I’m sure that you wouldn’t ruin their night” she spoke sweetly.

 

Rhys looked at her to find her staring right back at him. He hadn’t realized how close their faces were.

 

Shiera was… She had been his hope for over thirty years, the only thing shining in his darkness. She had saved him but she didn’t know. Rhys had confessed some of his darkest memories with her and she had understood, had supported him and having her there, so close, so beautiful… He wanted to tell her everything, all the truth and that he was hers but… What if she rejected him? What if she regret her decision of staying in his Court? What if she said what Rhys himself already knew, that he was a liar, a monster?.

 

But all his thoughts disappeared when she spoke again. 

 

“Alec told me that people dance in this party. Would you… Would you dance with me?” she asked nervously, he turned and look surprised at her, “You want to... dance? With... me?” he whispered and she nodded with a shy smile. 

 

“Of course I’ll dance with you” he whispered, “All night, if you wish”. “Even if I step on your toes?” she laughed and he gave her a sweet smile, “Even then.”

 

She wrapped her arms around his neck as he did the same with his own but around her waist. She could nearly touch his soft wings but she didn't want to ruin the moment, it wasn't allowed to touch an illyrian’s wings without permission.  

 

“It's weird to dance without music” she confessed when they haven't started yet, “I couldn't agree more” he said with a laugh, “Would you honour me with your voice, Shiera darling?” he purred with a grin and she purred back “What kind of song do you want? And what do you want it to be about? I know many so…”. 

 

“I want a slow one, so we can dance. And it's Starfall… So, one about stars” he murmured. “I see. Would you want, Stars, Sky full of Stars or Rewrite the Stars?” she asked to his chest, “Rewrite the Stars… That title sounds interesting” he declared, she nodded and began to sing as they started to dance slowly, following the rhythm of the song. 

 

“You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide. I know you want me. So don't keep saying our hands are tied… What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine. Nothing could keep us apart. You'd be the one I was meant to find. It's up to you. And it's up to me… You think it's easy. You think I don't want to run to you. But there are mountains and there are doors that we can't walk through… All I want is to fly with you. All I want is to fall with you. So just give me all of you. It feels impossible. It's not impossible. Is it impossible? Say that it's possible… You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide. But I can't have you. We're bound to break and my hands are tied”.

 

Rhys got frozen, that lyrics… They were describing how he exactly felt, about her, the mating bond, his memories form Under the Mountain… They were the ones he'd wanted to say to her. 

 

They stopped dancing when she finished and stayed in that position, then each one began to lift their gaze to each other's eyes but the moment was interrupt by a burst of light and Shiera cried out in shock, staggering back from Rhys with a look of pure horror coming over her. A falling star-soul had collided with her face, the freckles of her nose and cheeks illuminated in a beautiful cascade of color.

 

And Rhysand laughed. He laughed so hard, his soul might have burst. His body unraveled at the seams even as it was simultaneously filled to the brim with a joy he had not felt in decades.

 

She separated her body form Rhys as she touched her nose and her cheeks, they were covered in a shining blue glitter. She tried to wipe the dust away, but he grabbed her hands in a frenzy with a bright smile on his face. “Don't. It looks like your freckles are glowing”. 

 

Their eyes met again but he jumped out of the way right as his own sky-bound traveler smacked into his face, like the stars above were trying to drive them together, to match.  Now the left side of his face was shining with a violet glitter, of the same color as his eyes. 

 

Shiera began to laugh and that was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. And he realized that he had never seen her truly happy before, ever since he met her.

 

Music filled the night air with wonderful sounds and everybody in Velaris began to dance and celebrate following the rhythm that had began when the first stars had appeared. 

 

Noise and lights and music and laughter surrounded Rhys in a joyous symphony all because of that smile. He had waited what felt like an eternity for this moment. Every single second of the previous thirty years had been worth it just to see Shiera's smile.

 

Her lips twitched, returning to her normal composure as her eyes asked me what was going on inside his head.

 

“Smile again” he requested humbly, hardly able to get the words out. Shiera seemed to realize how close they were, but she didn’t shy away from him. Quite the opposite, actually. And when she looked back up at him, her smile was so bright and beaming for him, Rhys could have cried.

 

She extended one hand and he gave his own as the princess passed a finger over the glitter in his face and when it was covered in a purple shine, she draw softly a star in his palm, “Your home” she whispered with a grin. He passed a finger over her blue glitter and painted three waves in her left palm, she looked at it and gave him a sad smile and lowered her face as her heart ached, because of the memories but also because if he had drawn that, it meant that he didn't consider her part of his court. 

 

He noticed it and said “Once, you told me that you wanted to consider Velaris also as your home, but that you couldn't because you felt out of place and maybe with some time you could fit. That was months ago and I want to ask you now… Do you consider Velaris as your home?”. 

 

An intense electricity buzzed between them. Their eyes flitted from their still touching hands to their shared gaze and back, never sparing a thought for the non-existent space between them. They had one solitary touch connecting them at their fingertips and somehow it felt miles deeper and more intimate than what had passed at the Court of Nightmares. 

 

When he looked up at Shiera for the final time, he let the desire for her, mind, body, and soul, flow freely across his face. The finger that ran along his wrist in response sent adrenaline through his system, rooting Rhys to the spot.

 

She lifted her gaze, looking at those eyes filled with stars, “Do you want me to?” she asked knowing what that question fully meant, he looked at those green eyes, wrapped his hands again over her waist and declared “Beyond measure”. 

 

Shiera's heart stopped, knowing what he was telling her and she offered her right palm to him, he covered his finger in his violet glitter and draw sweetly a star in her hand. She stared at her palms, both covered by the color and the symbol of where she felt like home. 

 

Shiera's heart was beating really fast as she placed her hands in his chest and he rested his head in hers. She united her courage and said “Rhys”, “Hmm…” he murmured, “I have to ask you to do me a favor” she spoke, “Whatever you want, Shiera darling” he purred. Then she lifted her gaze so she could watch the amazing male in front of her, she looked again at his violet eyes and whispered “Are you ever going to kiss me?”, his heart stopped completely but continued looking at her eyes as he declared “That’s not a favor”.

 

Rhys separated one hand from her silver waist and place it in Shiera's neck, surrounded by black waves of hair. They both closed their eyes as he pulled her closer, she slipped her hands on his neck and the High Lord of the Night Court kissed the Princess of Adriata. 

 

Somehow, when he kissed her, she felt like her heart was shattering, but in the best possible way and she wanted it to keep on shattering forever. 

 

Her mind only noticed that his lips were soft against hers, her hands playing with his hair and pulling him closer as he passed a thumb over her cheek and the hand of her waist was caressing it as he pulled her even closer, their bodies so together that there was no space between them. 

 

Rhys couldn't believe that he was finally kissing his mate properly. He had waited 30 years but it was finally happening, she considered his home as hers and now she was in his arms, kissing him, dressed with his mother's dress under a sky full of bright stars. 

 

Shiera felt like she could explode and she heard how now, lots of stars had began to appear in the night sky. They were falling fast and strongly, leaving a shining in the sky. 

 

Their tongues found the way to each other's mouth so they joined and danced in passion. They both felt the desire, pushing them to search more. And when they began to cuddle and kiss with even more passion, wanting more, needing more, two of that strong and bright stars hit them both. 

 

Even if it was the last thing they wanted to do, the separated their lips. Their breath came in pants, eyes meeting despite their considerable height difference. And when they saw the new purple glitter in both faces, they laughed as she rested her head in his chest and he kissed her waved black hair. 

 

With his arms again around her waist and her own around his, he purred “It seems that you can also control the stars, Shiera darling”, the female let out a laugh and purred back “At least now, there are more stars in the sky”. 

 

He looked at the sky above them, and he noticed that with every heartbeat of his mate, a bunch of stars fell down illuminating his city. They realised that when her heart had beated faster because of the kiss, she had made appear even more stars and made them fall and shine like she was feeling, brightly and strongly. 

 

They were looking together at the shining stars when Shiera whispered “To the stars who listen”, “And the dreams that are answered” Rhys finished pressing his lips against her head. 

 

She hugged him more and he leaned his face to claim her lips again. They felt full again and more stars fell from the sky, even faster than the previous ones. 

 

Then Shiera heard some members of the Inner Circle laughing in the roof of the House, and she broke the kiss. Rhys face was filled with fear “What… Have I done something… wrong?” he asked trembling a little but the princess let out a laugh and kissed his chest “No, no… Just, the opposite, don't worry. It's that… Your family is upstairs, you have waited 50 years to be with them and… you should be with them, I feel selfish because of having you here…”.

 

Rhys cupped her face with one shining hand as the other was still resting in her dress, “You are not selfish, you are… Beautiful” with that words Shiera's cheeks went red and Rhys noticed it even with the glitter over them, “I'm not beautiful” she murmured but he proved her wrong, “You are. You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen” he whispered making her blush even more. 

 

“If we go with them right now… Would you like to…continue… where we left off??” he said quietly as he placed his hands over her back, she caressed his cheek with one hand while the other slid around his neck so she could feel him and look at his eyes filled with desire but fear because of what she could answer, “Beyond measure” she whispered and the High Lord kissed her again. 

 

Then he took her in his arms as she wrapped hers around his neck, and when he opened his immense wings she said “Wait… one moment”, “What…?” he began but she cupped his cheek with a soft hand and planted a long kiss in his lips, then they separated and she smirked “Now we can go”.

 

* * *

 

The Inner Circle approached his High Lord as Shiera went to see the shining city from a balcony of the roof.

Cassian smirked at Rhysand. “What exactly happened when you two disappeared, Rhys?”. He twisted to look at him, frowning slightly. “What do you…?”, he cut himself off as Mor raised her eyebrows pointedly, coughing shortly.

“Don’t you dare to say that you just talked because, damn, that must have been some talk. Neither of you two have stopped grinning” she purred and Rhys couldn’t help but smile as he remembered the way Shiera’s freckles had seemed to glow, her finger tracing over his skin as she painted the star on his palm. The piece of her artwork had, unfortunately, come off on her dress or hand at some point while they kissed. He wished he could have saved it because it was the first thing she had painted since she’d been locked up Under the Mountain, since Tarquin had been murdered.

“We…” he began but paused, “You… Come on, tell us” Mor complained and Rhys took a deep breath while looking at the dark-haired princess that was painting the sill. “I asked her if she wanted to consider Velaris as her home and… She said yes”.

“And…” Alec began, “And… We kissed” Rhys let out, still looking at his mate. Like it all had been a dream, a wonderful, perfect and incredible dream. 

“Congrats, cousin” Mor laughed as she punched his shoulder, “But… Have you told her…?”. “No. Not yet. That is not a conversation for this night”.

Alec pushed him towards where Shiera was, “Go, then. Enjoy the night” he grinned and Rhys let out a sigh as he smirked too.

“What are you doing, Shiera darling?” the High Lord purred and she turned her head to him, smiling brightly, letting him see her masterpiece.

Velaris, she had painted Velaris in that sill. The houses, the mountains, the river, the ocean… She even had managed to made the Rainbow shine more than the other parts of the city. All painted with the stardust that had hitted the roof. Velaris was shining under her hands, her fingers covered by the violet glitter that was still in his face.

“Do you like it?” she asked sweetly with a shy smile curving her wonderful lips. Rhysand lowered his head, “Beyond measure” he whispered to her black hair, “Thank you, Shiera darling”.

Her smile grew even more as she looked into his bewitching eyes and he do anything but grin down at her, seeing the exhilarated flush to her cheeks, the way her hair fell in black waves on her back. “What?” she asked, a small grin turning her lips up again. 

Rhysand stared longer, unable to tear his eyes away from her when Shiera was so utterly perfect in this moment. She was so purely happy right now. 

My mate is with me, safe and happy with my family and my people, he thought, feeling his heart beating faster with each word.

“What is it?” she asked again, raising her eyebrows as she brought a slender hand up to her face. “Did I get hit with another spirit?”. There was a bit of teasing in her eyes now.

I love you, he almost said. You’re my mate and I love you.

Rhys wanted nothing more than to say the words. He wanted her to know everything that he felt and knew. “You’re wonderful” he said instead, filtering his thoughts from his words yet again.

Shiera gave a little smile he couldn’t resist. Closing the small gap left between them, he leaned down and brushed his lips against her cheek. A small gift for the both of them. “I am… very glad I met you, Rhys” she whispered, making his entire body shiver as he breathed in her scent, “I’m glad too, Shiera darling. More than you could ever imagine”.

I love you. I love you more than you could ever imagine”.

But he couldn’t say the words, he couldn’t scare her, not now, not when she had smiled again. So he closed his eyes, savoring the way she was looking at him, the way her body fit perfectly against his. Everything was so perfect now. The last thing he wanted was to force her into returning his feelings by telling her everything she needed to know. Things were beautiful now. There was no reason any of it had to change.

So Rhys smiled and opened his eyes again, meeting her bright-green ones. She stood up on her toes suddenly, turning her face to the side and pressing herself more firmly against him as her lips dropped a fast kiss on his cheek. Her elbows hooking over his shoulders as she embraced him more tightly. Her temple rested on his chest, his soft lips against her dark hair.

Rhys shifted his hands to press his palms against her back. He could still feel her bones faintly under her skin and the thin fabric of her dress, but she had become so much healthier than she’d been when she first came here. Her shoulder blades no longer jutted out into his hands when he ran his fingers over them.

She sighed softly and he closed his eyes at the feeling of her breath on his chest. Without thinking, Rhys turned his face so that it was burrowed slightly into her shimmering dark hair, falling loose around her shoulders. He breathed in deeply, locking her scent and this moment into his memory. He wanted to remember it always.

I love you, he thought again, I will always love you.

They danced like that for several songs, not a centimeter of space between them. 

I love you, Shiera thought and her heart jumped when she heard her own words in her mind. One thing was being in love but if she said those words… Was she ready to give him her shattered heart? What if he didn’t felt the same way?

Rhys just wanted to kiss her. He wanted to show her how much he loved her, even if he couldn’t say the words. Just as he thought he might have enough courage gathered to really do it, to really put his lips to hers, she broke their eye contact, resting her forehead against his chest, right over his heart. It’s yours. My heart, my soul, my body. Everything is yours.  

After a moment, she shifted so that her cheek pressed against him again, and he could tell that she was listening to the steady beating of his heart, the pace increasing with every moment her hands stayed pressed against his skin.

It’s beating only for you. It’s yours. It has been during thirty years and it will be always yours.

Shiera felt his scent, his heart beating faster and she lifted her head to look at his eyes. She only stared him for a moment, then he pulled her closer and the princess rose on her toes, passing her arms around his neck as he lowered his head to claim her sweet lips.

  
  


They danced, first alone and then all of them together, as a family, just the way it should have always been and should always be. 

 

Shiera freed Rhys well and truly that night. His entire soul sang at her every touch, turned over on itself with every look. And despite how much he enjoyed spending the evening with his family, it was her Rhys kept coming back to indulge in, dance after dance after dance.

 

They let their movements do all the talking. Each sweep of her out of and into his arms begged her to wake up, told her how much she cherished him, how much he never thought he would look up out of that pit below where Rhys had found himself and see her staring back at him ready to pull him up. The power she held over him being threatened to burn right through him.

 

And when the music had swelled its finest and Shiera’s smile glowed enough to encompass the city and make them forget the souls above, the darkness reached out of Rhys and swept the princess up into the air until they danced on clouds of smoke and their own inky pool of starlight. She laughed at the rush, smoke curling around the folds of her dress where it swayed around her ankles and floated us off the ground in time to the music. Rhys pulled her wrist until she swam back into him, her own darkness leaking out to mate with his. And her world felt complete.

 

Shiera watched the shadows glow and the darkness surround her as she twirled in the starlight. A laugh burst across her face again and her mate couldn’t be more grateful for hearing her laugh again.

 

While the Princess of Adriata watched Starfall envelope her in only the way that Starfall could, Rhysand watched her, a smile as broad as the sun written on his face. They turned and turned until there was nothing and no one left in the world but the pair of them.

 

From across the way, Alec watched his father dance with his mate, a stinging itching at his eyes. The Prince of Velaris thought he could sit right there on a chair for ages and watch his father dance, live again just to pay back the fifty years they had gone without it. A peace unlike anything he had felt before settled into his chest. Let the threats of war live in tomorrow. Tonight was perfect just as is.


	3. Nightmare

Everyone in that roof danced together as they watched the glowing stars that were falling, only the High Lord and the princess knew why there were so many and why they were so bright.

They had danced, all of them together. And Alec had never seen his father so happy, lauhing with him, joking with Azriel, drinking with Mor, bickering with Cassian and dancing with Shiera. The princess had danced with each of them, and when the night had shifted toward dawn and the music became soft and honeyed, she had let Rhys take her in his arms an dance with her, slowly, until the other guests had left, until Mor was asleep on a settee in the dining room, until the gold disc of the sun gilded Velaris.

“My feet ache” Shiera said softly when the Inner Circle was leaving, the only complaint all night. She had truly been a wonder, too lost in her happiness to be concerned about anything that could be wrong. Rhys laughed, moving his hands from her back to her waist. Before she could protest, he had crouched down and put an arm under her knees, lifting her off of her feet and into his arms.

She yelped in surprise, and he chuckled again as Shiera’s hands tightened around his neck. Her feet dangled as she looked up at him, her hair falling back as her startled eyes locked onto his. “Is that better?” he asked playfully, trying not to let his thoughts linger on the way her legs curled over his arm, only the thin fabric of her dress and the delicate beading keeping his skin from hers.

She smiled now, although a hand loosened from his neck to slap his chest gently. “You could have warned me” she giggled, her eyes twinkling. He laughed again, and saw her shift to wrap an arm around around his neck, the side of her face resting against his shoulder while her other hand came up to lie against his opposite shoulder. He smiled, more content now than he had ever been.

“My mate, my heart and soul”.

He’d flown her back to the town house through the pink and purple and gray of the dawn, both of us silent, and had kissed her forehead once before walking down the hall to his own room.

“I want to… continue the kiss but… Not this night” he spoke quietly while his hand approached the door.

“Why? Are you… Are you ok?” Shiera inquired worried.

“You know how I've spent the previous 50 Starfalls, but what you don't know it's that after… serving her… when I fell asleep I had nightmares the whole night about… how I'd spend it” he confessed with his voice breaking but was able to add “And I know we have slept together to support each other with our nightmares but this ones… I don't want to wake you up or you to see them. I know you are stubborn but, now I am the one who needs a favor. Even though it's the last thing I want after what have happened in that balcony… I need to be alone, just for this night”.

She was resigned but nodded in understanding, gave him a sweet kiss and wished him good night.

 

* * *

 

Shiera woke up with tears in her eyes because of the nightmare she had seen but it was not hers. When she looked at the empty side of the bed, she realized that Rhysand was not with her and she remembered why. So she nearly run and entered in his room. He was kneeling on the bed, elbows against his legs, hands covering his visage, wings opened and resting on the bed.

She got closer until she was in front of him, kneeled too. He lifted his gaze and when he saw the tears that were fighting to escape from his young mate's eyes he whispered “You…?”, she nodded and two tears rolled down her cheeks, falling on his bed.

“I'm sorry… I am really sorry…” she tried to said but her voice betrayed her at the end, “I am the one who is sorry… You had to watch…” he barely said but Shiera rested her hands on his knees as she whispered “You said you didn't want to wake me or to watch it but… You can control what you dream. It's not your fault. I know what you asked me before but… Could I stay? Please. I don't want you to… face it alone”.

He looked at her bright green eyes “Do you really want to… stay?” he murmured with surprise in his violet eyes and she nodded.

They were under the dark silk sheets, both laid sideways, staring at each other but at certain distance between their bodies. Afterwards they started to get eventually closer until she was against his chest, her hand over the muscles of his back, his hand holding her close to him by her waist and her back. They both let out a sigh of relief and a laugh.

“If this a dream,  I will kill anyone who tries to wake me” Rhys declared kissing her hair,  “Every night that we slept together… I was dying to do this” she whispered, “I can assure you that I wanted more. You don't know how much I had wished and waited this” he murmured to her hair.

“When we went to the bars, I made bets with Alec about whom would have the courage to ask you and who would you choose to… go to bed with. Alec won always because you didn't choose anyone and I thought that the reason was… I… I thought that you wouldn't want anyone in your bed, after…” she admitted.

Rhys noticed that her voice was trembling and she couldn't continue talking so he passed a hand over her back and then introduced it into her dark hair “It wasn't that I didn't want anyone. The truth is that… the only one that I wanted… Would never accept to be with me. Now that you are here, I guess…that I was wrong” he confessed. “We both were wrong” she said and kissed his tattoos over his chest.

He met her eyes just before she turned to kiss his chest again, and he could have sworn that he had seen something in them that matched what he was feeling. Maybe he could tell her about the mating bond without destroying what they had. Maybe she already felt the way he did. Maybe he was a fool to keep hiding it when it may not change anything at all between them, except to pull them closer.

But that, Rhys decided as he watched her awe at the beauty of the moonlight reaching up above the horizon, was a decision for another time.

When she saw that his face turned nearly sad she asked “What happens?”, he carrssed her cheek with his thumb “I… I have to tell you something… But I want to wait until we return from the illyrian camps” he told her. He wanted to do everything with her but until he told her the truth, he wouldn't.

“Why do you want to wait? What is it?” she asked him holding his back, “If I tell you… I'm afraid that if I tell you, you'll regret what have happened this night” he said in a really low voice without looking at her eyes, “I would never regret this night. It has been… Perfect” she said caressing his hair.

“I accept that you will tell me after returning here but I have a question. Have you... lied about something?” she inquired and he nodded. Her heart beat slowly and asked “Why?”, he looked at her eyes, sadness in his own “If I had told you… You wouldn't have seen me the same way” he murmured ashamed of himself and afraid of what she would think if he told her the truth.

“I know your soul, everything else is just an ornament. I see you, how you are while wearing the mask, when you are with your family, when you are kind and funny with me and how you are when you… when you suffer. And all I can say when I see you in each situation is… I… I trust you” she confessed and added “You have to understand that I don't trust many people… Saying that I trust someone, for me is as difficult as to say… that I love someone” she ended.

“It's hard for you to say that you love someone?” Rhys asked dumbstruck and she nodded “The first time that I said it to Tarquin… was when he… proposed, then I knew that I could… gave him my heart. It’s true that I used to say it to my parents, my family… But for me that it’s meaningless, it’s like when you ask, how are you, you have to say that you’re ok even if you aren't, and to say that I love my parents… It’s the same. The first time is always the hardest, then I repeat it if I really feel it If say that. For me it means… that I give my heart entirely to that person” she explained hearing Rhys’ heartbeat.

 

* * *

 

The illyrian male woke up covered in sweat and he was trembling with shiverings, his wings fully opened. She woke up too, she has seen again his nightmare and she placed one hand over his shoulder, trying to calm him. “Rhys…” she whispered with fear of how was he feeling, seeing that he was like frozen, she started to play slowly with his hair, the more she did that slower his heart beat.

She continued to do the same as she passed softly her other hand over his arm. He calmed himself, helped by the princess who was holding him. “Better?” she whispered, he nodded and was able to said even with his voice breaking “Thank… Thank you”.

“I can help you to calm yourself but… I told you I trust you, now I have to ask you if you trust me” she whispered to his arm, her lips making him tickling. He looked at her face and said “Yes”.

She made him to lay with his chest touching the bed, and when he did, his arms at his sides, his huge wings opened, she started to slowly scratching his body with her fingernails.

He would have never imagined that what she was doing would not only calm him but… He was completely in peace, feeling her little soft hands passing over his big back, filled with scars and muscles, then they danced over his waist, his arms, his neck, his hair… With her hands over his body was to feel her, trying to relax him, over his wings was not sexual as if she touched them in that way, but in a calm, lovely way; and feeling her hands over his head… He forgot everything but her, all his sorrows, worries, fears… They all disappeared, leaving only his wonderful young mate, with her hands passing lovely over him.

When she finished with her nails, she repeated again with her palms, making him feeling… Like he was lying on a cloud.

“When I was a baby, I was too restless so when I went to bed I couldn't sleep. My mother used to did this and I fell asleep as soon as she finished. I loved it so much and it worked really well, that even when I grew up, she kept doing it” Shiera confessed when she finished.

“Are you more… serene?” she spoke, “You can't imagine how much… Thank you, for...all. For… staying and for this. You promised that this Starfall will be memorable… And you can't imagine how much I have enjoyed it and how I will remember it. Thank you” he whispered and she pressed her lips sweetly on his neck, but careful about his wings.

“Mmm… I think that there's something missing in that last sentence” Shiera purred with a laugh, “You are totally right. Let me try again… Thank you for this unforgettable and wonderful night, Shiera darling” he purred back and she laid down grinning.

He couldn’t force his mind to empty when it was so full of Shiera. Her laughter, her smiles, handed out so freely tonight. She had been so carefree, so happy and so lovely.

Rhys couldn’t remember how he had ever managed to live those months without her. How had his heart beat for thirty when it wasn’t beating for her? How had he ever smiled when she wasn’t there to smile back? How had he ever endured the shadows when she wasn’t there to keep me company in them?

My mate. My love. My soul. My missing piece. Rhysand knew, without a doubt, that however he had endured my life before her, he could  never again do it now that he knew what it was like to have her light with him.

She had saved him when he didn’t even deserved to be rescued. For that, he would protect her and love her forever. Rhys would never let harm come to her, never let her feel alone or undervalued. He would let her choose her life, and he would stand by her while she did.

He would love her until the day he died, and she deserved no less.

She wanted him to stay in the same relaxed position so she cuddle him slowly, he held her closer and like that, with his hand over her back, her own over his, his wings opened above them, one of them around his mate and their foreheads together, the High Lord of the Night Court fell asleep and dreamt only of the young and sweet female by his side.

 


End file.
